Ancient Greek->English translation forum (Moderators: billberg23, vbd.)

εὐνήτειρα νὺξ ἔργων -> night that makes works cease

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πᾶσα σοφία παρὰ Κυρίου καὶ μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα –> all wisdom comes from the Lord, she is with him for ever

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τὸν πάνθ' ὁρῶντα καὐτὸν οὐχ ὁρώμενον -> the all-seeing though himself unseen

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πολλὰς ἂν εὕροις μηχανάς· γυνὴ γὰρ εἶ -> you will find many ruses: you are a woman

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λόγων ἀφορία -> dearth of literature

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μηδένα πρὸ τοῦ τέλους μακάριζε -> call no man happy until he dies, call no man happy till he dies, it ain't over till the fat lady sings, the opera ain't over till the fat lady sings, count no man happy until he is dead, it's not over till it's over, count no man blessed before his end

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ἢ τοὺς πότους ἐρεῖς δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τὰ δεῖπνα καὶ ἐσθῆτα καὶ ἀφροδίσια, καὶ δέδιας μὴ τούτων ἐνδεὴς γενόμενος ἀπόλωμαι. οὐκ ἐννοεῖς δὲ ὅτι τὸ μὴ διψῆν τοῦ πιεῖν πολὺ κάλλιον καὶ τὸ μὴ πεινῆν τοῦ φαγεῖν καὶ τὸ μὴ ῥιγοῦν τοῦ ἀμπεχόνης εὐπορεῖν; -> There you'll go, talking of drinking and dining and dressing up and screwing, worrying I’ll be lost without all that. Don’t you realize how much better it is to have no thirst, than to drink? to have no hunger, than to eat? to not be cold, than to possess a wardrobe of finery? (Lucian, "On Mourning" 16)

Started by billberg23

διὸ δὴ πᾶς ἀνὴρ σπουδαῖος τῶν ὄντων σπουδαίων πέρι πολλοῦ δεῖ μὴ γράψας ποτὲ ἐν ἀνθρώποις εἰς φθόνον καὶ ἀπορίαν καταβαλεῖ -> And this is the reason why every serious man in dealing with really serious subjects carefully avoids writing, lest thereby he may possibly cast them as a prey to the envy and stupidity of the public | Therefore every man of worth, when dealing with matters of worth, will be far from exposing them to ill feeling and misunderstanding among men by committing them to writing

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σοφώτατον χρόνος· ἀνευρίσκει γὰρ πάντα -> time is the wisest of all things that are; for it brings everything to light

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ἐὰν ἃ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπιτιμῶμεν, αὐτοὶ μὴ δρῶμεν -> avoid doing what you would blame others for doing

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οὔ τι τὰ πολλὰ ἔπη φρονίμην ἀπεφήνατο δόξαν -> a multitude of words is no proof of a prudent mind, many words do not declare an understanding heart

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ἰητῆρ᾽ ἀγαθώ -> excellent doctors twain

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ἁδρότης -> hardiness

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Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ -> The fool laughs even when there's nothing to laugh at (Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)

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συμβεβυσμένος -> crowded together, densely packed

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ἔνδον σκάπτε, ἔνδον ἡ πηγή τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ καί ἀεί ἀναβλύειν δυναμένη, ἐάν ἀεί σκάπτῃς -> Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig. | Look within. Within is the fountain of the good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.

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Ἕωθεν προλέγειν ἑαυτῷ: συντεύξομαι περιέργῳ, ἀχαρίστῳ, ὑβριστῇ, δολερῷ, βασκάνῳ, ἀκοινωνήτῳ: πάντα ταῦτα συμβέβηκεν ἐκείνοις παρὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τῶν ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν. -> When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they can't tell good from evil. | Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today inquisitive, ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and ill.

Started by spiros

γεγόναμεν γὰρ πρὸς συνεργίαν ὡς πόδες, ὡς χεῖρες, ὡς βλέφαρα, ὡς οἱ στοῖχοι τῶν ἄνω καὶ κάτω ὀδόντων. τὸ οὖν ἀντιπράσσειν ἀλλήλοις παρὰ φύσιν -> we are all made for mutual assistance, as the feet, the hands, and the eyelids, as the rows of the upper and under teeth, from whence it follows that clashing and opposition is perfectly unnatural

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ὁ κόσμος ἀλλοίωσις, ὁ βίος ὑπόληψις -> the universe is flux, life is opinion | the universe is transformation: life is opinion | the universe is change, life is a fleeting impression | the universe—mutation: life—opinion

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Ἑκὼν σεαυτὸν τῇ Κλωθοῖ συνεπιδίδου παρέχων συννῆσαι οἷστισί ποτε πράγμασι βούλεται. Πᾶν ἐφήμερον, καὶ τὸ μνημονεῦον καὶ τὸ μνημονευόμενον -> Be willing to give yourself up to Clotho, letting her spin to whatever ends she pleases. All is ephemeral—both memory and the object of memory (Marcus Aurelius 4.34f.)

Started by billberg23